Display rack



A ril 10, 1934- c. w. sowERwmE DISPLAY RACK Filed Oct. 18, 1932 ial I NV EN TOR. 63 /4; 55 M50Wf/flV/NE 4 A TT%NEY.

Patented Apr. 10, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 6 Claims.

This invention relates to display racks of what might be termed thestep-up contour, permitting the visible display of a relatively largequantity of material or merchandise on a relatively small 5 table,counter or floor space and at the same time, rendering the goods placedon display accessible at all times; and the object of the invention isto provide a rack of the class described consisting of two angularlydisposed frame sections composed of angle iron strips coupled togetherand braced to form a substantially pyramid or triangular rack frame,with means at the contracted upper end of the frame for detachablysupporting a sales card or advertisement in connection therewith; afurther object being to provide the inclined or angularly disposed railsof the frame with spaced apertures with which U-shaped shelf members aredetachably coupled to provide a series of shelves on each frame memberarranged in step relation with respect to each other to facilitate thearrangement and display of merchandise thereon, and particularly indisplaying merchandise sold in bolts; a further object being to provideshelf members of the class described which are U-shaped in form andfashioned from angle iron strips, the free ends of the side arms ofwhich terminate in hook-shaped lugs adapted to be passed through theapertures in the rails of the frame and with beveled walls engaging theouter surfaces of said rails in supporting the shelves in properposition with respect to the frame members; a further object being toprovide supplemental shelf parts detachable with respect to said shelfmembers to provide a table therefor upon which small articles areadapted to be placed; a further object being to provide a rack of theclass described in which the several parts may be readily dissected topermit the shipment thereof in a compact package and quickly set up theinvention consists in a rack of the class and for the purpose specifiedwhich is simple in construction, efficient in use and which isconstructed as hereinafter described and claimed.

The invention is fully disclosed in the following specification, ofwhich the accompanying drawing forms a part, in which the separate partsof my improvement are designated by suitable reference characters ineach of the views, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a rack made according to my inventionand illustrating one method of its use.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view through the rack shown in Fig. 1, with thearticles removed.

for use; and with these and other objects in View,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, sectional detail view showing the manner ofcoupling the shelf members in connection with the frame.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing only a part of theconstruction on an enlarged. scale and showing a modification.

Fig. '5 is a plan view of a part of the structure shown in Fig. 4; and,

Fig. 6 is a detail View of one rail of the frame members showing amodification.

My improved rack is designed for use upon a counter of special orconventional construction or on a table, or may be used directly upon afloor, and has for its principal objects the displaying of merchandiseplaced in the rack in a clearly visible manner as well as rendering thearticles accessible for removal from the rack and in displaying thelargest possible volume of material within a minimum amount of fioor orcounter space, and still further in the provision of a rack which byvirtue of the simplicity of its construction and manner of assemblage,can be shipped in a relatively small package and quickly assembled, andwhen so assembled will be strong and durable to support heavy loads ofmerchandise arranged thereon without danger of collapsing, shifting ormovement; and especially in the provision of a rack of this class whichwill be efficient and practical in the display of bolt goods as isillustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawing.

In the construction shown, the rack consists of two frame members 10,10c, each frame member consisting of two rails 11 which are of similarconstruction joined and. spaced apart by transverse strips 12 and 13.The strip 12 is common to both frame members and disposed at the top ofthe frame and includes an upwardly projecting channel strip 12a in whicha price card or advertising card 14 may be placed. Whereas, the strips13 are arranged approximately centrally of the separate frames asclearly seen in- Fig. 2 of the drawing.

The frame members 10 and 10a are braced in their angular arrangementwith respect to each other by rods 15 extending between the angularlyarranged rails of each frame about in alinement with the strips 13. Therods 15 are also of angle iron cross sectional form, and these rods formshelf members upon which articles for display are adapted to be placedas is indicated in Fig. 1 of the drawing. At this time, it will also beunderstood that a table forming plate or member such as that included inconnection with the shelf members of the frames as illustrated in Figs.4 and 5 of the drawing may be applied to the rods 14 in supporting smallarticles of merchandise.

As above stated, each rail 11 of the frame members is of identicalconstruction and the brief description of one will apply to all. Theserails are of angle iron cross sectional form and one wing of the rail iscut away and beveled at each end thereof as seen at 11a and 11b to formthe intersections at the upper end of the frame members and to providethe feet for the lower end of the frame members. The other legs of therails at the lower ends thereof project angularly to form the feetproper 11c upon which rubber or other cushion rings 16 are mounted so asto prevent the marring of the surface of a counter or table as well asto prevent slipping or sliding of the frame thereon.

The upper or outer sides of the angle iron rails 11 are provided atspaced intervals with apertures 17, four of which are employed on eachrail in the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2, but in some uses, agreater number of these apertures may be employed as is indicated at 17ain Fig. 6 of the drawing so as to provide a greater adjustment of shelfmembers 18 with respect to each other on the separate frame members. Theshelf members 18 are formed from strips of angle iron material bent intoU-shaped form, in other words, to provide an outer crosshead 18a andside arms 18b, the upper sides or flanges of said arms terminating attheir ends in projecting substantially hook-shaped lugs 19 which areadapted to pass through the apertures 17, 17a of the rails of the framemembers in coupling the shelf members therewith. The side flanges of thearms 18b of the shelf members 18 terminate at their ends in beveledwalls 20 which are adapted to rest upon the outer surfaces of the rails11 when articles of merchandise are placed on the shelf members fordisplay, whereas, normally, the shelf member would be inclined upwardlyto a slight extent. This places the shelf members under slight tensionwhen under the load. At this time, it will also be understood that it ispreferred that the side arms 18b of the shelf members be either sprunginwardly or outwardly to a slight extent from a parallel relation sothat in coupling the same with the spaced rails 11 the arms will besprung into engagement therewith. In this way a rigid and non-rattlingassemblage of the entire rack is provided.

It will also be understood at this time that the coupling of the shelfmembers with the rails 11 of the separate frames is such as to supportthe shelf members when under the load in a substantially horizontalposition to prevent displacement of articles placed on display from saidshelf members.

By providing a display rack of the structure defined, the same will befound to be very suitable for displaying such merchandise as bolt goodsin the manner illustrated diagrammatically in Fig. 1 of the drawing, anumber of bolts being arranged on each shelf. By proper adjustment orarrangement of the shelves, a substantially continuous line of boltswill be formed in stepped arrangement on each of the frame mem-' bers,and at the same time, other bolts of merchandise may be arranged uponthe bars 15 and also upon the counter or table beneath the bars, all asindicated in Fig. 1. In displaying merchandise of the characterdescribed in this manner, a customer may readily see the patterns ordesigns on the respective bolts and make a selection, facilitating thesale of the merchandise and saving time for the store keeper as will beapparent.

It will be understood that other types of merchandise may also beconveniently displayed on a rack made according to my invention andutilizing the shelf members of the structure shown in Figs. 1 and 2 orof the same general contour, and in some cases, in the displaying ofrelatively small articles it will be necessary and desirable to usesupplemental table shelf members 21 such as shown in Figs. 4 and 5 ofthe drawing.

These members consist simply in a sheet of material, preferably thinsheet metal, having depending walls 22 overlying the crosshead 18a andside arms 18b of the shelf members 18 and upwardly extending flanges orwalls 23 at the inner ends thereof adjacent and outwardly of the rails11 of the frames. The table shelf members 21 are retained againstshifting or displacement by angular plates 24 preferably disposed in thecorner portions thereof, but other means of coupling the supplementalshelf members 21 with the members 18 may be provided.

In packing my improved display rack for shipment, all that is necessaryis to provide a box or container of a length equal to the length of therails 11 of the frame and of a width equal to the greatest width of theshelf members 18, 21. It will therefore be readily seen that the entireunit may be compactly packed for shipment and readily assembled bycouplng the plates 12 and 13 with the rails in forming the frame members10 and 10a and then coupling the brace bars 15 therewith, after whichthe shelf members are quickly and easily coupled with the resultingframe.

By employing rails such as shown in Fig. 6

of the drawing with the multiplicity of apertures 17a, the shelfarrangement may be changed from time to time to suit the differentarticles of merchandise to be placed on display thereon. It will also beapparent that the display rack may be made in different sizes to suitdifferent uses, and various other changes in and modifications of theconstruction herein shown and described may be made within the scope ofthe appended claims without departing from the spirit of my invention orsacrificing its advantages.

Having fully described my invention, what I I rangement thereof on eachof said frame members, each of said shelf members being formed from astrip of angle iron folded to form side arms, and an outer crosshead,the free ends of the side arms of said shelf members terminating inhook-shaped members, inwardly of which are beveled walls by means ofwhich the shelf members are supported in substantially hori-- zontalposition on said frame and supplemental sheet metal table shelf membersdetachably coupled with the first named shelf members and includingperipheral flanges overlying the side arms and crosshead of said shelfmembers.

2. A knock-down display rack of the class described consisting of aplurality of angle iron strips, a number of said strips being fashionedto form U-shaped shelf members, and two pairs of strips being coupledtogether to form two shelf supporting frame members, means for couplingsaid frame members together in angular relation with respect to eachother to form a substantially triangular frame with which said shelfmembers are coupled, one side wall of each pair of strips forming saidframe members having transversely arranged elongated apertures spacedlongitudinally thereof, the free ends of the side arms of said shelfframes having projecting, substantially hook-shaped lugs adapted to bepassed through the apertures in said frame members in coupling the shelfmembers therewith, said lugs being formed on the upper walls of theangle iron strips from which they are formed, and the side walls of saidstrips terminating at their ends in beveled walls engaging the outersurface of the frame members to support said frame members insubstantially horizontal position.

3. A knock-down display rack of the class described, consisting of aplurality of angle iron strips, a number of said strips being fashionedto form U-shaped shelf members and two pairs of strips being coupledtogether to form two shelf supporting frame members, means for couplingsaid frame members together in angular rela tion with respect to eachother to form a substantially triangular frame with which said shelfmembers are coupled, one side wall of each pair of strips forming saidframe members having transversely arranged elongated apertures spacedlongitudinally thereof, the free ends of the side arms of said shelfframes having projecting, substantially hook-shaped lugs adapted to bepassed through the apertures in said frame members in coupling the shelfmembers therewith, and supplemental table shelf members formed fromsheet metal and detachably coupled with said first named shelf members.

4. In a display rack of the class described, a frame having side railscomposed of angle iron, said rails having transversely extending,elongated apertures spaced longitudinally of the rails, the apertures ofone rail being in horizontal alinement with those of the opposed rail,article supporting members cletachably coupled with said frame, thesides of said members being disposed in alinement with the rails of saidframe, and the free ends of said sides terminating in projecting,hook-shaped lugs adapted to be passed through the apertures in the railsof said frame in coupling said members therewith, and the sides of saidarticle supporting members having beveled walls adjacent said lugsadapted to engage the outer surfaces of the rails of said frame toretain said members in predetermined position with respect to the railsof the frame.

5. In a rack of the class described, an article supporting shelf memberformed from a strip of angle iron and fashioned to form a U-shaped bodyconsisting of side arms and a crosshead joining said arms, one side ofthe angle iron strip forming a depending wall extending around theperipheral edge of the U-shaped body and the other side of said stripforming the top supporting wall of said body, said last named sideprotruding at the free ends of said side arms and being fashioned toform hook-shaped supporting lugs for mounting the shelf member inconnection with a support, and the outer depending walls of said stripsterminating at the ends of said side arms in beveled walls engaging thesupport to maintain the shelf member in predetermined position withrespect to the support.

6. In a rack of the class described, an article supporting shelf memberformed from a strip of angle iron and fashioned to form a U-shaped bodyconsisting of side arms and a crosshead joining said arms, one side ofthe angle iron strip forming a depending wall extending around theperipheral edge of the U-shaped body and the other side of said stripforming the top supporting wall of said body, said last named sideprotruding at the free ends of said side arms and being fashioned toform hook-shaped supporting lugs for mounting the shelf member inconnection with a support, the outer depending walls of said stripsterminating at the ends of said side arms in beveled walls engaging thesupport to maintain the shelf member in predetermined position withrespect to the support, and a supplemental shelf member consisting of asheet metal plate bridging the arms of said first named shelf member andincluding depending flange portions engaging the angle iron strip ofsaid first named shelf member for preventing accidental displacement ofsaid supplemental shelf member.

CHARLES W. SOWERWINE.

